Kolkata-Bred Metallers Yonsample are Relentless on ‘Extropy’

[easyreview cat1title = “Extropy” cat1rating = “3.5” cat1detail = “Self-released”]

You know a band means business when one of the first tracks they release after three years is called “This is Returning”. Raging riffs and all, that’s exactly how Kolkata metallers Yonsample ”“ now based in Mumbai ”“ break into their debut full-length album Extropy.

The album is a real shout-out for attention from a band that has often been ignored and never really broken out into the heads of metalheads across the country. All the build-up to Extropy though, with singles such as “Median” in 2014 and “Tibro” [released in November this year] seems to belie Yonsample’s bite. While their re-recorded 2012 single “Espial” moves in that direction, it’s on “Dream Motion Triggered” that the band pleases technical progressive metal fans with its spanner-smashing breakdowns. The groovy “Tibro” and cleaner, djent-esque “Median” has keyboardist Anudhyan Chakrabarti taking the lead, with a lot of guitar-noodling courtesy Soumik Roy.

Vocalist Arka Das might have stuck to clean vocals for “Median” but it’s vocals that makes songs like “In Consequence” sound like more than just a tribute to American instrumental producer Cloudkicker aka Ben Sharp’s heavier material. Yonsample twist and turn the cube of combinations ”“ “Februation” has even more djent grooves with a lot more abrasion, while Chakrabarti gets his turn again on the electronic ambient interlude “808.” Bassist Anirban Banerjee thunders on “Conquest” but listeners may spot a formula of a kind running through Extropy by now.

They close with one of their best-known tracks yet, “Sundered Vicinity” packing in all the brutality in one K.O. punch. Recorded in part by Delhi-based guitarist-producer Keshav Dhar [from prog metal band Skyharbor] and Kolkata’s Rhitabrata Kar, there’s a rough edge that’s not often preferred by bands in the modern prog metal space. It works to Yonsample’s advantage, making Extropy much more satiating for ears that are tired out by spic and span, squeaky-clean production values. Even better, with the band shifting base to Mumbai, there’s a good chance we’ll see more of Yonsample in new territories.

Stream ‘Extropy’ below, and click here to buy the album.